FR EE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2004
Volume 4, Issue 12
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY CHUCK SHEPARD
■ In September, Floyd Edwards, 78, set out to drive his friend Ruth Stancil, 62, and Edwards’ son Clifford from their home near Erwin, Tenn., to nearby North Carolina towns for shopping, as they routinely do once a month. The round trip is usually about 100 miles, but once again, a senior driver became confused, lost track of time and distance, and was fearful of stopping. By the time the three returned, 60 hours later, they had traveled 1,600 miles, as far as an Atlanta suburb, where Edwards accidentally fell at a gas station and hit his head, necessitating a call to police, who were able to help the group turn around. ■ David Roy Truscott, 35, pleaded guilty in Cornwall, England, in September to three arsons and a burglary of a farmhouse near Redruth, but the burglary was less significant than what he did when he got onto the property. Police said Truscott had submerged himself in a manure pit in order to masturbate. (Also, containers of liquid sludge were found at his home.) At the crime scene, two items of Truscott’s were picked up, but of questionable usefulness given the severity of his alleged behavior: tissues and rubber gloves.
TODAY IN HISTORY In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit. In 1986, President Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Sen. John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair. Ten years ago: Thirty clergymen were elevated to the rank of cardinal in a Vatican ceremony presided over by Pope John Paul II. Margaret Garrish, a 72-year-old Detroit woman, committed suicide in the presence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Five years ago: Sixteen people were killed when a Norwegian high-speed passenger ferry hit a shoal and sank off Boemla Island, 250 miles west of Oslo. One year ago: Human rights activist Gao Zhan, who was freed from a Chinese prison after the U.S. government interceded on her behalf, pleaded guilty in Alexandria, Va., to illegally selling American high-tech items with potential military uses to China. (Gao later received a reduced sentence of seven months in prison for her cooperation with authorities.)
INDEX Horoscopes Could be a late night, Scorp
2
Surf Report Water Temperature: 61°
3
State Day laborers, beachside
8
National Wasteful reservations
15
Comics Tickle your funny bone
16
Classifieds Have some class
17-19
People in the News Tom Waits returns
Salvation found on Fourth Street BY PAM WIGHT Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN — Many people might only know the Salvation Army as the local thrift store, or the truck service that will pick up used furniture from the curbside. Or, of course, the bell-ringing kettle people who they hurry past on their way to do their holiday shopping. But it is also a non-denominational Christian church, which dates back to its founding in 1865 by Englishman William Booth. “The Salvation Army has been raising money at Christmas time with the kettle people at grocery stores for 115 years,” said Captain Brian West, a pastor at the Santa Monica Corps. of the Army on Fourth Street. “We bring out the kettles one week before Thanksgiving and go until Dec. 24 — this year 32 days of collecting.” The Christmas season is the Army’s busiest time of year and the most lucrative. Each kettle makes a minimum of $200 to $300 per day, and can make significantly more as Christmas draws closer, West said. With between 15 to 20 kettles out each day in Santa Monica, the goal is to raise at least $105,000 this holiday season. Only three or four kettle people are volunteers. The rest are paid. “We do have to pay our bell ringers to stand,” West said. “So we put them on the payroll because it’s for 30 days. Some people ask if we pay them from the kettles, but those days are long gone.” The kettle program to help the poor began with one giant kettle on the docks of San Francisco where people would toss their money. Money collected goes into the Army’s general fund where, after administration costs, it goes
20
Jacquie Banks
See ARMY, page 4
Photo Courtesy IN LIVING COLOR: Local artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s mural, entitled ‘Technical and Imaginative Pursuits of Early Man,’ hung in the Santa Monica Public Library until 1966, when it was dismantled and donated to the Smithsonian. The city now hopes to bring the piece back to the Santa Monica library.
Massive mural may be headed back to Santa Monica library BY SUSAN TAM Special to the Daily Press
SM LIBRARY — Almost seven decades ago, local artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright unveiled a 2,000-foot mural, a project that had dominated his life for 18 months and worked him to the point of exhaustion. Macdonald-Wright had designed the mural specifically for the reading room in the Santa
Monica Public Library. But when the Main Library was to be rebuilt in 1966, the $5 million mural could not fit and it was dismantled and donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Now, the city is working to return the pieces of the enormous mural to their original home — a lengthy process that will cost an estimated $230,000. If all goes to plan, the mural someday would be on display on the second floor of
the new $72 million Main Library.
FROM COAST TO COAST The mural series, called “Technical and Imaginative Pursuits of Early Man,” is a chronological sequence designed to flow in a circle, with the streams of history culminating in a panel depicting the filming of a movie. Placed at the entrance of the library, the panel displayed See MURAL, page 5
Despite new boy toy, Barbie slumps By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Barbie’s going through a mid-life crisis. After splitting with longtime boyfriend Ken this year, she sought refuge in shopping, surfing, bubble baths and partying. Then there was the makeover and a new man — spiky-haired
Southern California surfer Blaine. But Barbie’s nonetheless going through a crisis, one that started at the cash register. While the Barbie brand as a whole generated $3.6 billion in global retail sales this year, according to manufacturer Mattel Inc., Barbie has seen sales slide over the past seven quarters. And in the last few years, rivals
including the edgier Bratz have upstaged the iconic doll. To re-energize its flagship brand, the world’s largest toy maker set out to cast Barbie and her pals in a series of books, magazines and animated films, hoping the story lines would drive sales of the doll and her trove of accessories.
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